Mediation set on DOE plan for plutonium disposal at WIPP

摘要

The US Department of Energy and its contractor that operates thedepartment's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, as well asanti-nuclear groups and state officials, have agreed to mediationseeking to settle by the end of July a suit challenging the state'sDecember decision that could permit DOE to dispose of 34 metrictons of plutonium at WIPP.Don Hancock, nuclear waste program director with SouthwestResearch and Information Center in Albuquerque, said in a May 30interview that the Court of Appeals of the State of New Mexico hadaccepted a May 1 motion by all parties in the suit agreeing to seek amediated settlement. The court set a July 31 deadline for themediation’s conclusion, Hancock said.